Tag: life drama

3.5 star, YA

ARC Review: All the Way Around the Sun by Xixi Tian

Andge @ Down the Rabbit Hole

From the acclaimed author of This Place is Still Beautiful comes an evocative, achingly romantic road trip story about grief, diasporic identities, and deep-buried secrets that haunt us, perfect for fans of Past Lives and The Farewell.

Stella Chen’s life ground to a halt when her brother unexpectedly passed away a year ago. Raised together by their grandmother in the Chinese countryside before rejoining their parents in the United States, his absence destroys the connective tissue in her family. With another jarring move her senior year, from rural Illinois to unfamiliar surroundings in San Diego, she is left alone and adrift in her family’s suffocating silence and the void of unanswered questions around her brother’s death.

So when Stella’s parents force her to join her estranged childhood friend Alan Zhao for a college tour all over California, Stella dreads it. Alan is a reminder of everything Stella wishes she could be — popular, gregarious, unburdened — and a reminder of how lost she is.

As this road trip takes Stella and Alan down beautiful coastlines and through fraught family dynamics, Stella can’t help but feel the spark of why she and Alan were once so close. Before long, they find themselves pulled into each other’s orbits, forcing unspoken feelings and long-hidden truths into the light.

Thank you to Books Forward for this copy. All quotes are subject to change.

I tell you that we are the only two people in the world who have lived the same lives. The same memories growing up. The same arc. We flew over the sea together, you and I. I think this must mean that even though you are gone, I carry the parts of you onward.

One thing I have come to enjoy about Xixi Tian’s writing is the way she interweaves the Chinese immigrant experiences into her characters’ lives. While it may not be everyone’s exact experiences, including my own, the heart of our people’s collective struggles is there and that is something I find truly powerful to see in an English novel where only a decade ago it would not have been a story easily shared for the masses.

All the Way Around the Sun features themes of grief and finding one’s way through life after momentous changes. Told from Stella’s perspective several months after her older brother had passed away in college, I thought the best part of this book was the slow unfolding of her and her brother Sam’s story. As children they had grown up in China with their grandmother while their parents had come to America to make money first so they could give their kids a better life before bringing them over. I know these are the experiences of some Chinese immigrants and I cannot imagine the depth of hardship it would be for the parents to sacrifice time with their children during momentous milestones in their youth, but also for the children to uproot their childhood into a foreign place with people that are family but also strangers.

Continue reading “ARC Review: All the Way Around the Sun by Xixi Tian” →
5 star, YA

ARC Review: ASAP by Axie Oh

Andge @ Down the Rabbit Hole

New York Times bestselling author Axie Oh’s ASAP is the much anticipated companion novel to beloved romance XOXO, following fan favorites Sori, the wealthy daughter of a K-pop company owner, and Nathaniel, her K-pop star ex-boyfriend, in a swoon-worthy second chance love story.

Sori has worked her whole life to become a K-pop idol, until she realizes she doesn’t want a life forever in the spotlight. But that’s not actually up to Sori—she’s caught between her exacting mother’s entertainment company and her father’s presidential aspirations. And as the pressure to keep her flawless public image grows, the last person she should be thinking about is her ex-boyfriend.

Nathaniel is off limits—she knows this. A member of one of the biggest K-pop bands in the world and forbidden from dating, he isn’t any more of an option now than he was two years ago. Still, she can’t forget that their whirlwind romance was the last time she remembers being really happy. Or that his family welcomed her into their home when she needed it most. . . .

So when Nathaniel finds himself rocked by scandal, Sori offers him a hideaway with her. And back in close quarters, it’s hard to deny their old feelings. But when Sori gets an opportunity to break free from her parent’s expectations, she will have to decide: Is her future worth sacrificing for a second chance at love?

Overall Recommendation:

ASAP is finally Sori and Nathaniel’s story that takes the elements I loved about XOXO and supplements in different ways that makes this a different experience while being everything I wanted. Another forbidden romance but this time with the baggage of a past history, the angst and chemistry between these two were real since the first day we met them in the previous book. While it can be read and loved as a standalone, I enjoyed seeing familiar faces in the XOXO group and a different side of the K-pop industry. Brilliant in its characterizations and emotionally heartbreaking, this was the perfect romance read that kept me entertained to the last page.

Publication Date: February 6, 2024

Diving headlong back into the glamorous world of K-pop and the XOXO group, fan-favourite characters (that included me!) Sori and Nathaniel are thrown back together again after graduating high school and somewhat putting their romantic history behind them. After all, their last foray into the non-platonic feelings almost brought a scandal for Nathaniel’s idol group XOXO just shortly after they debuted. It seems the world is just against them from being together.

I love a well-done forbidden romance as much as the next person, and Axie Oh just has a way of seeing into my heart and knowing which heartstrings to pull when she writes these romances. Sori and Nathaniel were so well written as characters that they felt like real people. Their chemistry was evident even when they were first introduced in XOXO but it was magnified in this book as we focus on their history and present.

Getting to know Sori was one of my favourite parts of the book. She is so much more than meets the eye. Her relationship with her mother, the CEO of an entertainment group, and her rocky relationship with her father made her such an empathetic character. The deep dive into another side of the K-pop industry was so much fun. Not only the music side, I loved seeing the preparation of groups before their debut and the variety shows they go on to make themselves known to their audience. As a K-pop fan, this made the story even more entertaining and real. Axie really drew me in with her depictions of this world.

For fans of the companion book, I’m so glad the boys of XOXO all made appearances that go beyond cameos. I think the biggest surprise was getting to see more of Sun who seemed to be more elusive in book 1 as he had already completed high school by that point. I honestly hope we get a book for each of the boys. *fingers crossed*. And for fans of Jenny and Jaewoo, they also make appearances so this book has a little treat for everybody!

Honestly, I can go on with my gushing, but this book (and series) is a love letter to those who love the K-pop world. It’s fun, fast paced and filled with emotional story arcs. ASAP follows in this same vein and doesn’t disappoint, even with the high standards I had for it. I urge you to go out and find a copy for yourself!

Thank you Netgalley and the publisher for this copy in exchange for an honest review

5 star, YA

Review: XOXO by Axie Oh

Andge @ Down the Rabbit Hole

Cello prodigy Jenny has one goal: to get into a prestigious music conservatory. When she meets mysterious, handsome Jaewoo in her uncle’s Los Angeles karaoke bar, it’s clear he’s the kind of boy who would uproot her careful plans. But in a moment of spontaneity, she allows him to pull her out of her comfort zone for one unforgettable night of adventure…before he disappears without a word.

Three months later, when Jenny and her mother arrive in South Korea to take care of her ailing grandmother, she’s shocked to discover that Jaewoo is a student at the same elite arts academy where she’s enrolled for the semester. And he’s not just any student. He’s a member of one of the biggest K-pop bands in the world—and he’s strictly forbidden from dating.

When a relationship means throwing Jenny’s life off the path she’s spent years mapping out, she’ll have to decide once and for all just how much she’s willing to risk for love.

Overall Recommendation:

Call me an official K-pop fan because XOXO has gotten me into the culture and world of K-pop stars. I loved the angst of this forbidden romance between Jaewoo, this seemingly regular boy who appears for a wondrous night in LA, and Jenny, our normal non K-pop loving girl who prefers the cello. Her journey to Korea to study abroad for a term brought such an immersive experience of the culture and the process for K-pop stars. Fast paced and wholly enjoyable from start to finish, I couldn’t stop reading this romantic story between these two musical teens.

I’m starting off the year on such a high with XOXO, a book I honestly should’ve read ages ago. While I’ve always been adjacent to the world of K-pop, I’ve never really immersed myself in it though it has taken the world, deservedly, by storm.

In this beautiful and angsty story of a forbidden romance between a K-pop star and an ordinary transfer student from America, it gave me the whole spectrum of feelings. Fast paced from the start, the magical night Jenny and Jaewoo first meet in LA in her uncle’s karaoke bar showed how much chemistry they have. I didn’t want their misadventure to end as much as Jenny didn’t. And when he ghosted her for a few months until Jenny found herself transferring to a performing arts school in Korea for a term while they tend to her sick grandmother, you know the re-meeting would be filled with complicated emotions. Axie Oh didn’t miss a beat as I held my breath for what would come of this.

The love story definitely took center stage. I love a good forbidden romance that is filled with angst. Both rule followers and passionate about their music and responsibilities, they are clearly perfect for one another if extraneous factors such as a scandal from Jaewoo’s boy band XOXO wouldn’t cause a huge problem. The tensions were so good throughout, from the fear of being caught every time they did even something more than innocent friends would to the anxiety something would give in either of their music careers due to the time they chose to spend with each other over their competing priorities. Even the initial will-they-won’t-they start dating was fun to read.

But besides the romance, there are so many other things I enjoyed! You know me, I only give the best ratings for books that have everything going for it.

I’ve loved the influx of Asian representation in stories over the last few years. This is no exception. The immersive way Axie brought us into the world of Seoul, their culture that differs from North American standards (where else would dating a celebrity be a scandal just for the fact they’re dating?), and the in-depth look on K-pop trainees and debuted groups was truly fascinating. I’ve listened to K-pop occasionally over the years but never fell in love with it. Being in this fictional world has made me more curious and perhaps even more open to joining this music fandom in real life that so many enjoy.

The food and family dynamics in Korea were also represented. You don’t know how many times I was going hungry reading about black bean noodles (jajangmyeon) and kimchi and gimbap. Jenny’s dynamics with her mother and grandmother were also an important part of her story arc. Balancing the responsibility to practice cello to get into the music school of her dreams (and her mother’s dreams) while feeling the lack of support and presence from her mom was an interesting backdrop to set the familial conflicts, but one I can understand as an Asian adult who grew up in similar familial conflicts in the community.

The one thing that was the perfect icing on top of this already fun and emotional book were the other characters, especially the XOXO members. Found family is a huge trope here as the boys only have each other when they tour and face the pressures of debuting. While Jenny may not have her family for integral support, she found great relationships with these boys. From the fun loving youngest member to the serious leader who only wanted the best for Jaewoo, their love for one another was obvious. The highlight was definitely Nathaniel and his attempts to make life easy for Jenny, even when she thought his attentions and freely given friendship would only cause issues for the both of them. Her roommate Sori also initially came across as mean and stuck up but their relationship became something I loved as she stuck by Jenny in all the things she was unprepared for.

This book felt like a K-drama with all the best parts crafted into a fast paced story. If you enjoy a good forbidden romance, excellent characterizations and found family, with plenty of Asian representation, this book is 100% for you. There’s no time to waste! Best add it to your TBR when you can!